The Hong Kong curse will haunt the Blitzboks for another year after they finished ninth at the fifth leg of the World Sevens Series at the weekend.
The Blitzboks have achieved success all over the world but have never managed to finish top of the podium on the island. The tournament took place at the futuristic Kai Tak Stadium. The Blitzboks’ disappointing finish is not the way they would have wanted to remember their first outing at the new home of Hong Kong Sevens.
Few Positives for Blitzboks in Hong Kong
The South Africans went into the iconic tournament in fourth spot on the standings. While they always struggle in Hong Kong, this attempt was particularly disappointing.
Philip Snyman’s team beat Uruguay 40-7 in their opening game on Friday. However, their 26-7 defeat to Australia and subsequent 17-7 loss to New Zealand saw them miss out on the Cup quarter-finals. Those performances and results saw their Hong Kong title ambitions go up in smoke.
Their failure to gain a bonus point saw Ireland go through to the Cup knock-outs as the lucky losers. The Blitzboks (1.54) beat Kenya 19-17 in the ninth-place final.
With just two tournaments left, in Singapore and Los Angeles, the Blitzboks’ finish in Hong Kong was a massive blow. Snyman, however, while disappointed, believes that they still have a chance at Series glory.
“I have to take this one on the chin, as that was not our standard and ultimately, it is my job to make sure the guys are up for it and that consistency becomes a norm for the team,” Snyman said after the Blitzboks’ final game on Sunday.
“That consistency should be for every game and every tournament and not a select few as it happened here. The fact that it did not happen must be laid on my doorstep.”
Hong Kong marked the Blitzboks’ worst finish of the 2024/25 season.
In Dubai, they finished sixth after winning the tournament five years in a row. They followed that up with a historic win in Cape Town. In Perth and Vancouver, they placed fourth and second, respectively.
Blitzboks Need to Be More Consistent
This season, Snyman has frequently spoken about their goal of being consistent. Their performances at the weekend, however, threw that objective completely off course.
“We have to be more consistent than this,” said Snyman. “Against Australia, we had the benefit of a yellow card in the opening minute but did not use it, while against New Zealand, we were in their red zone early only to give away possession.
“Against New Zealand, we lost possession eight times and conceded six penalties, and you just cannot play rugby like that. We were poor at the breakdown and need to fix that with Singapore looming.
“We started so well and did everything we wanted, executed well and had a deserved lead. Then we lost concentration, made some errors and allowed them back into the game and in the end, we had to regroup in order to win the match.”
One thing that Snyman was pleased with was the debut performance of Gino Cupido, who scored four tries in his first tournament for the Blitzboks.
“We have a long-term objective of blooding new players and widening our pool of players, and that at least was a plus for us. Gino showed that he will be part of the future of Springbok Sevens, while Zander Reynders also started matches for the first time and did well. Those are silver linings for sure.”
Despite their ninth-place finish, the Blitzboks are still fourth on the overall Series standings. They have lost ground to leaders Argentina, who won in Hong Kong, while the teams behind South Africa closed the gap.
The Singapore SVNS tournament takes place on 5 and 6 April, followed by the final leg of the Series on 3 and 4 May.
SVNS Standings: Blitzboks in Fourth
1. Argentina – 88 points
2. Fiji – 76
3. Spain – 74
4. South Africa – 66
5. France – 64
6. Australia – 54
7. New Zealand – 50
8. Great Britain – 38
